Search results for "wild"
showing 10 items of 542 documents
Colonisation of newly established habitats by soil decomposer organisms: the effect of habitat corridors in relation to colonisation distance and hab…
2005
Abstract The aim of the present 2.5-year-long field experiment was to explore the ability of various members of the detrital food web to colonise newly established habitat patches in field conditions, either in the presence or absence of habitat corridors. Patch size and distance to the “mainland” (colonisation source) were manipulated to explore the scale dependency of the corridor effects. Sterilised humus patches, embedded in mineral soil regarded as uninhabitable (or non-preferred) matrix for the soil organisms, functioned as newly established habitats. Intact forest soil served as the source of colonisers. Three kinds of patches were established: large ones situated at relatively long …
Differential recovery of habitat use by birds after wind farm installation: A multi-year comparison
2017
Abstract Onshore wind farms remain one of the most widely used technologies for the production of renewable energy. These are known to affect birds through disturbance or collision. Most research focus on the impact of wind farms on raptors or other large bird species, especially those of conservation concern. However, limited information exists on the effect of wind farms on small birds. Recovery of large versus small bird populations impacted by wind farms is also largely unstudied. A reason for this is the lack of long-term datasets based on standardized, systematic assessments. We monitored birds in the vicinity of a wind farm in an upland habitat in southern Spain (Malaga province), im…
Do enchytraeid worms and habitat corridors facilitate the colonisation of habitat patches by soil microbes?
2004
Due to their high abundance and ubiquitous existence, microbes are considered to be efficient colonisers of newly established habitats. To shed light on the dispersal mechanisms of soil microbes, a controlled microcosm experiment was established. In these microcosms, the dispersal of microbes from a source humus patch to originally sterile humus patches (embedded in a mineral soil matrix) was followed for 16 months, applying 16S and 18S ribosomal DNA-based PCR-DGGE molecular methods. Specifically, the role of enchytraeid worms and habitat (humus) corridors as possible facilitators of microbe dispersal was studied. The results showed that enchytraeid worms function efficiently as vectors for…
Decoding Group Vocalizations: The Acoustic Energy Distribution of Chorus Howls Is Useful to Determine Wolf Reproduction
2016
Population monitoring is crucial for wildlife management and conservation. In the last few decades, wildlife researchers have increasingly applied bioacoustics tools to obtain information on several essential ecological parameters, such as distribution and abundance. One such application involves wolves (Canis lupus). These canids respond to simulated howls by emitting group vocalizations known as chorus howls. These responses to simulated howls reveal the presence of wolf litters during the breeding period and are therefore often used to determine the status of wolf populations. However, the acoustic structure of chorus howls is complex and discriminating the presence of pups in a chorus i…
Tree species flammability based on plant traits: A synthesis.
2021
Abstract The occurrence of large and recurring forest fires has long been associated with fire-prone environments, but this perception has been shifted rapidly in recent decades as Earths' landscapes have become increasingly threatened by severe and unpredictable fires as a result of climate changes. In this regard, the flammability of trees is a topic of great interest for ecology, management, and the development of sustainable restoration and rehabilitation plans. Tree species differ in regard to flammability, and many plant functional traits contribute to flammability at species, community and vegetation level. The relationship between plant traits and flammability at species level is im…
Re-evaluation and typification of Foeniculum piperitum (Apiaceae), an underknown medicinal plant and crop wild relative
2021
Foeniculum piperitum was described as Anethum piperitum based on plants collected in Sicily, Italy. Currently it is treated either as a synonym of Foeniculum vulgare, or as one of two subspecies within that taxon. Here we show that F. vulgare and F. piperitum are two different, sometimes co-occurring, taxa and that given clear morphological and ecological separation, they should be treated as distinct species. Anethum piperitum is typified. Owing to misapplication of names and wrong synonymizations, the ecology and chorology of F. vulgare and F. piperitum have to be better defined.
Visualizing fungicide action: anin vivotool for rapid validation of fungicides with target location HOG pathway
2018
BACKGROUND The mitogen-activated protein kinase MoHog1p was fused with a green fluorescent protein (GFP) in the filamentous fungus Magnaporthe oryzae. The MoHOG1::GFP mutant was found to be an excellent tool visualizing in vivo fungicide-dependent translocation of MoHog1p into the nucleus. Validation of pathway specificity was achieved by generating fluorescence-labelled MoHog1p in the ΔMohik1 'loss of function' mutant strain. RESULTS GFP-labelled MoHog1p expressed in the wildtype and in ΔMohik1 demonstrates that fludioxonil is acting on the HOG pathway and even more precisely that fungicide action is dependent on the group III histidine kinase MoHik1p. GFP-tagged MoHog1p translocated into …
Characterization and conservation of Clinopodium raimondoi Spadaro, A.S. Faqi & Mazzola germplasm in the Parco della Favorita of Palermo city (Si…
2017
In urban areas, the parks represent an important source of plant biodiversity. The Parco della Favorita is the largest green area in Palermo city (Sicily, Italy). Clinopodium raimondoi Spadaro, A.S. Faqi & Mazzola is an aromatic plant species which has a range of uses in Sicilian traditional culture. The essential oil of this species is rich in terpene components and its aroma is similar to that of mint. The aim of this study was to enhance the germplasm of C. raimondoi in the Parco della Favorita. A collection-field was set up within the park. The main biometric and productive parameters of the species were determined and gas chromatographic analyses were carried out to determine the quali…
Species richness and food web structure of soil decomposer community as affected by the size of habitat fragment and habitat corridors
2005
While most ecologists agree that the effects of fragmentation on diversity of organisms are predominantly negative and that the scale of fragmentation defines their severity, the role of habitat corridors in mitigating those effects still remains controversial. This ambiguousness rests largely on various difficulties in experimentation, a problem partially solved in the present paper by the use of easily manipulated soil communities. In this 2.5-year-long field experiment, we investigated the responses of soil decomposer organisms (from microbes to mesofaunal predators) to habitat fragment size, in the presence or absence of habitat corridors connecting the fragments. The habitat fragments …
Ionizing radiation from Chernobyl affects development of wild carrot plants.
2016
AbstractRadioactivity released from disasters like Chernobyl and Fukushima is a global hazard and a threat to exposed biota. To minimize the deleterious effects of stressors organisms adopt various strategies. Plants, for example, may delay germination or stay dormant during stressful periods. However, an intense stress may halt germination or heavily affect various developmental stages and select for life history changes. Here, we test for the consequence of exposure to ionizing radiation on plant development. We conducted a common garden experiment in an uncontaminated greenhouse using 660 seeds originating from 33 wild carrots (Daucus carota) collected near the Chernobyl nuclear power pl…